


A very shenko Christmas

by Spaceprincealenko



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:54:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 18,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21647890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spaceprincealenko/pseuds/Spaceprincealenko
Summary: Just a collection of one shots based off prompts I found on tumblr.
Relationships: Kaidan Alenko/Female Shepard
Kudos: 7





	1. Mistletoe

Kaidan had just returned from the citadel after having made some last minute purchases for the Normandy's Christmas party, per Shepard's request. He stopped to admire the decorations him and Lily had put up in the crew decks few days ago.

Her enthusiasm for Christmas was the same as he remembered from the sr-1, Shepard excitedly decorating the tree and putting lights everywhere was in complete contrast to her reputation for being cold and ruthless but he loved that about her. 

Kaidan's mother was the same way, as soon as November hit the decorations were out and Kaidan and his dad were stuck untangling lights for hours while his mother excitedly decorated the tree with mismatched ornaments. The way Lily decorated reminded him very much of home. Chaotic and tacky, the way she felt Christmas should be.

Kaidan was making his way back to the observation lounge which was free of any lights due to his migraines but still couldnt escape the onslaught of Shepard's decorating. 

Lily was on a step ladder in front of the observation deck, her usual N7 hoodie replaced by the ugliest Christmas sweater she could find. White and red covered with broken and terrified looking gingerbread men which Kaidan wasn't sure if he found it tacky or terrifying, or both.

Shepard cursed under her breath as she struggled to hang up the mistletoe due to her height. Even with a step ladder she was still pretty short which never failed to piss her off. Kaidan came up behind her and watched her for a couple seconds before speaking up.

"I got everything on the list Shepard." Shepard turned around surprised, not expecting anyone to be behind her.

"Oh, thanks babe." She goes to step off the ladder but misses a step and would've fallen had Kaidan not caught her with his biotics. He sets her down gently on the floor and walked over to her.

"You okay?" Sheaprd nodded and Kaidan kissed her forehead holding her protectively against his chest.

"I'm fine, you've got impeccable timing though." Lily kissed his cheek and walked back over to the step ladder to put it up. 

"You know if you needed something else hung up I would've helped." He scolded her out of concern.

"Yeah but that would've ruined the surprise." She placed the folded up ladder against the wall.

"Surprise?" 

Shepard smiled and gestured towards the mistletoe hung above the observation deck door way. "There's one above the bed in our cabin too incase you were wondering."

Kaidan walks towards her and grabs Shepard's hips pulling her close. "Yeah? Why dont you go and show me that one."

Lily smirked at him "Oh I will, but first..." she wraps her arms around his neck kissing him in front of everyone on the crew deck. Kaidan wrapped his arms around her and held her close. They eventually pulled away when a couple crew members cleared their throats earning a glare from Shepard, made more intimidating by her scars and the red glow from her eyes.

Kaidan chuckles and takes her hand, pulling her over the the elevator "Come on, let's move this to your cabin before someone gets the bright idea to tell Hackett about what they just witnessed."


	2. Snowball fight

The Christmas after the reaper war Kaidan and Lily headed to his parents place in Vancouver for the holiday. His mother had been begging him to bring Shepard around and they both agreed it was the perfect opportunity to do so, and giving what happened with Kaidan's father during the war they didnt want her to spend it alone.

To say Lily was nervous would be an understatement, no one knew yet but they got married during shore leave on the citadel so she essentially was preparing to meet her mother in law. They had agreed to tell her in the hope she understood why they did it. Kaidan figured if anyone she deserved to know first which Lily agreed with. 

As soon as they walk into the house they're greeted by insane amounts of Christmas decorations and the smell of sugar cookies.

"Hey mom, we're here." Kaidan called from the living room. His mother excitedly walked into the living room and hugged him tightly.

"Oh I've missed you so much sweetheart." Lily smiled as she watched the scene unfold before her. Kaidan looked almost exactly like his father but he definitely got his black curly hair from his mother. 

"I brought Shepard with me." Lily tenses up and quickly straightend out her beanie and smoothed down her skirt hoping to look semi presentable, despite the scars that covered her face from her cybernetics. 

Lily sticks out her hand "It's very nice to meet you ma'am Kaidan has told me a lot about you." Kaidans mother shakes her head and hugs her catching Lily of guard. 

"Oh please just call me mom." She pulls away and looks at her "You just as beautiful as Kaidan told me you were." Kaidan coughs awkwardly and Shepard blushes.

"I'll let you two get settled meet me in the kitchen when you're done." Kaidan picks up their bags and carries them up to his old room which had been transformed into a guest room. 

Kaidan sets their bags on the bed and looks over to find Lily standing there and fidgeting with her wedding ring. It was a small gold wedding band with a small diamond on it, and the words "until the end of time." engraved on the inside. A phrase Kaidan has always said to her since the sr-1. 

He walks over to her and takes her hands "Hey, it's okay my mother has been bugging me to meet you for ages. What are you nervous about?"

"I dont know, I just want her to like me." 

"She's going to love you." He kisses her head "I have something to take your mind off things, grab your coat and gloves."

"Okay?" Lily ditches her jean jacket and replaces it with her long camo coat and put on her red velvet gloves that matched the fur on the hood. 

Kaidan takes her hand and leads her out of the room and down the stairs "Mom, Lily and I are gonna go on a walk. We'll be back."

"Okay sweetheart be careful." Kaidan leads her out into the yard and Lily looks like shes seeing snow for the first time.

"You like snow shepard?" 

"I'm not sure, we didn't get much of it on mindoir."

"Hmm, then I'm assuming you've never had a snowball fight before?"

"A what?" Kaidan throws a snowball at her in response which hits her in the arm.

"Oh you're on!" Shepard forms a bunch a snow into a ball and aims for the same spot kaidan hit her in. Kaidan takes cover behind a tree as does shepard, their combat training translating rather well. 

Kaidan pops out of cover at the wrong time and gets hit in the face with a snowball. Any decent human would've apologized but not Shepard she laughed harder than he's seen her laugh in a long time. Kaidan would've taken a hundred snowballs to the face if it meant seeing her laugh like that.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------  
After about an hour of running around and assaulting each other with snow they lay down in snow next to each other panting. 

Kaidan looks over at her."So feel better now." 

Shepard, who's out of breath can only nod "Yeah, much better." She looks over at him and climbs on top of him, planting a light kiss to his lips. "I love you."

"I love you too." 

"Hey babe, do you think you could carry me inside? My legs are freezing."

Kaidan chuckles and picks her up "That's what you get for wearing a skirt."

"Can it major." Kaidan laughs and carries her inside bridal style.


	3. Chapter 3

As much as love Lily loved Christmas, the holiday season always made her think of her family. Her mom loved to cook and bake so as soon as December hit she was always in the kitchen, dragging Shepard in there with her to help. She didnt mind, she loved spending time with her mother and the added benefit of food, making things much better. But after the attack even looking at a sugar cookie used to be enough to make her cry. Things got easier over time, but it still hurt when she'd go to the citadel and see family's together admiring the decorations and going shopping, not that she'd tell anyone.

Needing something or someone to take her mind off things she left her room and went to look for the one person who ever failed to cheer her up, lieutenant alenko. As soon as she walked into the mostly empty mess hall and saw Kaidan sitting at the table talking to his mother on his omni tool

She knew he was really close to his parents, which made her smile. A lot of human biotics, especially L2's in his case experienced a lot of discrimination thanks to the side effects. Often from their own families so it was heartwarming to see, even after everything his parents still cared for him. 

Lily didn't want to interrupt so she ducked behind the console Kaidan pays more attention to then he does her at times. She watched as he as talked to his mother, occasionally laughing or smiling making her heart beat faster. She loved that smile, especially when it was aimed at her. 

Eventually they hung up and Shepard came out of her hiding place, straightening out her uniform before walking over and taking a seat across from him.

Kaidan's face lit up when he saw her "hey, my mom uh she sent me some cookies if you want one." He slid the box towards her and she took him up on the offer, she bit into one and smiled a bit of sadness behind her brown eyes.

"They're good, does she make them every year?" He nodded. "Yeah, Christmas is her favorite holiday, the entire house is probably decked out by now. My dad was left untangling lights without me this year." 

She chuckled and took another bite of the cookie, it reminded her of her mom's. Kaidan noticed something was up and took her hand "Are you okay commander?"

Lily set the cookie down on a napkin and shook her head. "No, I miss my mom..." she looked down at the table trying to hide the tears that formed in her eyes but a few drops fell on the table giving it away. 

Kaidan's chest tightened at the sight of the woman he loved crying. He knew what happened to her on mindoir, and he knew it still bothered her. She's said shes moved past it but he never believed her. Kaidan couldn't understand how someone could just put that behind them. 

He got up and walked over to her, picking her up and carrying her to her cabin. He knew Lily would be mortified if someone walked over to them and saw the intimidating commander Shepard crying. He walked over to the bed and sat down with her still in his arms. 

"Christmas was my mom's favorite holiday too, she'd bake for the entire colony ever year. I'd help her in the kitchen stealing cookies when she wasnt looking like every other kid." Kaidan didnt say anything and just listened as she told him stories about her mother.

"My dad and sister were practically useless in the kitchen so they'd just deliver everything, and leave the cooking up to me and mom." Kaidan heard her choke up and held her closer.

She started sobbing, her black eyeliner running down her face and getting on Kaidan's shirt, not that he cared. Shepard was his only concern right now. He kissed the top of her head and soothingly rubbed her back. After a while she calmed down and looked up at him. He wiped her tears away gently and kissed her forehead. 

"Do you feel better?"

She nodded "Yeah....thank you."

"You don't need to thank me, I care about you shepard. It hurt to see you like that."

She kisses his cheek "You're a sweetheart Kaidan."

"You know, since we're docked at the citadel do you wanna check out the lights on the presidium?" 

Lily smiles "Are you asking me on a date Alenko?"

"Yes ma'am I am." Lily was a little shocked to see him so straightforward. He was usually so reserved with how he felt towards her.

"Well, let me get ready then."  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
They got into the elevator that took them from the docking bay and Kaidan took her hand in his. Lily smiled and gently squeezed it. Enjoying this straightforward side of his. 

They step out of the elevator and Kaidan gets them a sky car to the presidium. Luckily few people noticed them out of their armor. There was an artificial weather system that they usually just used to water plants but they decided to use it to make it snow which made everything so much prettier to Shepard.

Lily looked up and watched the snow fall. The look on her face cause a smile to form on Kaidans lips.

"I've never seen real snow before, we only ever got rain on mindoir."

"Maybe you can come to Canada with my one year, the only thing it does in winter is snow. Lots of it too." Lily looked at him and smiled.

"I'd love to." Their were snowflakes in her hair and her nose was a bit pink from the cold. Kaidan thought she looked beautiful like that. Without thinking Kaidan walked over to her and kissed her. He wrapped one of his arms around her waist and his other around her back gripping her hair. A couple people glanced at them but the only thing they were focused on was each other. 

They eventually pulled away and she stroked his cheek "Thanks Kaidan, no matter what happens with Saren or if we get stationed away from each other I'll always remember this."

She was right but kaidan hated thinking about it. He pulled her close and held her  
"Shhh dont think about that right now, let's just enjoy this."

Lily smiled and wrapped her arms around him "Merry Christmas Kaidan."

"Merry Christmas."


	4. Decorating

It was Lily's favorite holiday, for a while it was hard to be excited for Christmas. It was a big holiday for her family too and after losing them it just wasn't as special anymore. Kaidan helped her enjoy it again, so she thought he was the perfect candidate to help her decorate the Normandy, he was also her boyfriend and much taller than she was so by default he had to help her. He just didnt know that yet.

Shepard popped her head into the observation deck and found Kaidan looking over a data pad. By the look on his face he was probably working on a report for the council. 

"Hey kaidan, can I get your help with something?" 

Kaidan looked over and saw Shepard standing in the doorway. "Sure, what is it?" 

Lily goes over to him, and pulls him off the couch making him drop the data pad. She drags him over to the mess hall and stops in front of a bunch of boxes containing decorations.

"Oh no..." Kaidan knew where this was going, he didn't mind Christmas but decorating was a pain in the ass.

"Let's decorate together!" Shepard said excitedly, she was rarely excited about much so it was nice to see her like this, and he was starting to find it hard to turn her down.

"Honey....you know I love you but-"

"I do, which is precisely why you're gonna help me. Plus you're much taller than me." She interrupts him.

Kaidan sighs "alright, so what are we starting with?" 

"Well unfortunately the ship is too small for a tree, but since we're holding the party in my apartment we don't really need one. So....lights!"

Kaidan hopes and prays that the lights aren't tangled, he has terrible memories of spending hours untangling lights back home. 

"Okay, let's get started. Luckily there's nothing to detangle so it should get done fast." She was right it only took them a couple hours to decorate the crew deck and lounge with lights. They were multicolored which kaidan found tacky as hell. Shepard seemed pleased with herself though so he didnt say anything.

"Isn't it pretty kaidan?" Lily asks him with a smile on her face. Her smile just melted his heart, even with those glowing jagged scars of her's, so much so he didn't have the heart to say otherwise when she was so excited.

"Yeah, they're beautiful." 

"Glad you agree, now let's start with the garland next." Kaidan groaned as she dragged him away earning a laugh from Lily.  
At an attempt to get Kaidan in a decorating mood she turned on some Christmas music, serenading him when the more romantic ones came on. Lucky for Kaidan and any crew members who passed by she was a better singer than she was a dancer.

"I didnt know you could sing commander." Kaidan commented as he hung up some decorations.

"I'm not great but good enough to not make people's ears bleed." 

Kaidan chuckled "thank god for that."   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
After they finished they took a step back to admire their handy work.

"It's perfect, tacky like Christmas is supposed to be."

"Oh so that was intentional?" Kaidan teased.

She elbowed him gently in the side making him laugh "see it wasn't as bad as you thought right?"

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder's and pulled her close "No, it was actually pretty fun."

She smiled up at him and kissed his cheek "Good, cause they're staying up until January." 

"Of course they are..."

Shepard giggled and trotted off towards the elevator "I think I'm gonna need help in my cabin too, if you wouldn't mind babe?" The look on her face and the tone in her voice told him where this was going and he was more than happy to oblige.

"Nope, I dont mind at all."


	5. "I dont want you to be alone on Christmas"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit longer than intended but I really liked this prompt

It was almost Christmas and everyone had been granted special leave to be with their families. Lily could hear excited chatter from her crew as they each anticipated going back home for the holiday. Most people caught a shuttle from the citadel to their home planets, others waited until they docked at the alliance base and took a shuttle from there. Even Kaidan got off the Normandy to see his family leaving Lily alone in some room on base while the engineers poked and prodded at her ship.

She was fine until Christmas eve came around and she had nothing to do and no one to spend it with, and it's not like she was confined to the base so she figured she'd go and find something to do. Usually her shore leaves were filled with drinking and random sex but since she met Kaidan the latter didn't seem so appealing. 

As she was getting ready someone pinged her omni tool, it was the last person she expected to hear from tonight of all nights. Kaidan.

"Hey, got any plans?"

"Nope."

"Great, I'm waiting outside just come down when you're ready." 

Shepard was surprised, Kaidan's family lived in Vancouver he should've been with them tonight of all nights. But he wasn't, he was outside in the cold waiting for her. She hurriedly got dressed, throwing on a sweater, skirt and a pair of heeled boots. She pulled her hair out of her pony tail and let if fall down her shoulders and she ran out the door grabbing her purse on the way and doing her best not to fall down the stairs on her way out of the building. 

She got outside and found her- well she wasn't exactly sure what they were. They liked each other a lot, more than they probably should've for their situation, but she hoped tonight she'd get some answers out of her very cautious by the book lieutenant. 

Kaidan heard her walk out of the base and looked over, almost not recognizing her. Heels and a fur jacket were not something he thought he'd ever see her in let alone have her hair down. He always thought she looked beautiful, ever since he saw her but tonight she looked stunning. 

Lily walked over to him trying to keep her excitment over their impromptu date under wraps, but his smile and the kiss on the cheek he gave her unraveled everything. 

"I thought you'd be with your family?" 

"Huh? Oh well mom and dad go to bed pretty early and well...I didn't want you to be alone on Christmas." Shepard felt like she was going to cry and bit the tip of tongue a little trick she taught herself over the years. 

"Oh right, I got you these." He handed her a small bouquet of red roses, tulips and white lilys. She took the bouquet and looked down at it, the tears that were welling up in her eyes falling down onto the delicate petals of the flowers. 

She wrapped her arms around Kaidan and kissed him. He could taste the salt from her tears and pulled away to get a good look at her face. 

"Are you okay? Wait you're not allergic to flowers are you?" 

She laughed and shook her head "No, the flowers are perfect." She heard him breath a sigh of relief "Just unexpected." 

Kaidan wiped her tears away and kissed her forehead. "Come on are you hungry?" He offered Lily his arm which she accepted and they walked off towards the parking lot.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
Kaidan took them to a small Chinese restaurant, he knew it was Shepard's favorite food and this time of year was hard on her so he wanted to make it special. They stayed out for a bit stopping by a bar or two and just enjoying each others company, getting to know each other more. They felt like a normal couple, not a couple of marines who risked a court martial just over holding hands.   
\-----‐----------------------------------------------------------------  
Kaidan walked her to her room and kissed her goodnight but shepard wasnt exactly ready to call it a night.

"Kaidan, stay here with me. Just for tonight." 

Kaidan found it incredibly hard to say no to her, instead of answering he picked her up and carried her into the room and laid her down, kissing her again. This time they pulled at each others clothes, hadn't not touched each other since the night before Ilos, they were desperate. 

Kaidan accidentally ripped her panties and tossed them aside "Sorry I'll buy you a new pair later." He pauses "That didn't come out right." 

Lily laughed "It's fine, you're sexy when you're forceful." He smiles and kisses her again, making her moan. Kaidan pulls away and kisses down her body and stop between her legs, he runs his tounge along her before sticking it inside making her gasp. He grabs her thighs, placing them on his shoulders holding here there while he eats her out. She thrusts against him and her legs start to shake as she feels her orgasm coming. Kaidan continues to tease until she comes. He pulls away and looks down at shepard, still trembling below him. 

He pulls away and moves up to kiss her, shepard wraps her arms around his neck and threading her fingers through his hair. She could taste herself on him and it turned her on even more. 

"Kaidan hurry..." he undoes his pants and pulls them down, kicking them off onto the floor as he climbs on top of her. She grabs his face and pulls him close crashing his lips to hers, he pushes his cock into her making her moan. He gives her a minute to adjust then starts thrusting into her. Shepard wraps her legs around him, pushing him deeper into her. 

Kaidan pulls away from the kiss and grabs her legs setting them on his shoulders as he pounded into her, hitting a sensitive place deep inside her that made her scream and dig her nails into his back. They eventually came together calling out each others   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
After yet another round, Kaidan is sitting with his back against the head board while shepard straddles him, both completely naked with himself buried deep inside her.

"So.." shepard says as she kisses his neck, leaving marks he knew he'd have to explain later. 

"So?" He thrusts up into her making her gasp.

"What, exactly is our relationship?"

Kaidan sighs "I dont know, what do you want it to be?" 

Lily looks at him "I love you Kaidan, I want us to be together."

Kaidan smiles at her "I love you too." 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
Kaidan wakes up the next morning with Shepard in his arms still asleep, he smiles and brushes her hair out of her face. He knew he'd have to leave her soon, the consequences of someone catching them are not something he cares to think about or have to deal with. Kaidan does his best to get out of bed without waking Shepard, but fails. She reaches for him, half asleep

"Dont go..." He takes her hand and kisses it.

"I know, but if someone catches us..."

Shepard sighs "Yeah..." 

They say their goodbyes and Kaidan leaves her room somewhat nervously, praying there isn't anyone on the base up this early. Unfortunately for him the last person he wanted to see bumped into him, admiral Hackett.

Kaidan salutes "Sir."

"At ease, can I ask what you're doing here on shore leave lieutenant?"

Kaidan puts his arm down at his side "I just stopped by to see the commander, she wasnt uh feeling well before we docked so I wanted to check on her."

"Is that so?" 

"Yes sir." Lucky for Kaidan his jacket helped cover the marks Shepard left on him.

Hackett looks at him not fully believing him but Kaidan was a good soldier and he had no reason not to believe him "I see, well merry Christmas Alenko." 

"Merry Christmas sir." Kaidan sighs when Hackett walks away and quickly leaves in order to avoid a smiliar situation. 

Lilly looks out the window in her room and sees Kaidan leaving

"See you on the ship lieutenant." She say to herself smiling, the memories of last night still playing in her head.


	6. "I got into a fist fight with santa"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very dialogue heavy, sorry.

Lily sat in a c-sec cell, trying to figure out how to explain to Kaidan as to why she was there in the first place before he came to pick her up. She considered playing the victim, claiming he grabbed her or something but she knew that wouldn't end well and probably result in the poor santa thrown across the room landing them both in a cell. She went the less desirable option of telling him the truth. Besides, a relationship built on lies is no relationship at all right?

As Kaidan was being escorted to her cell he walked past one of the Santa's scattered across the citadel at Christmas time, the poor guy was holding a handkerchief to his nose and had a black eye, his gut told him Shepard had something to do with it. 

Lily looked up as he approached her cell and smiled.

"Hey Kaidan..." she tried appearing casual, disregarding the fact she was in jail.

"Why?" Was the only thing he said.

"Why what?"

"Just...why?" Kaidan seemed more exasperated than mad or annoyed which hopefully worked in her favor.

"I uh...I punched Santa..." she mumbled the last part.

"Care to repeat that commander?" She winced, usually he called her by her name when it was the two of them. Lily knew Kaidan wasn't going to be thrilled with her no matter what the reason was so she just bit the bullet.

"I punched santa."

He blinked "You what?" 

"I punched Santa, right in the face."

He sighed deeply and rested his forehead against one of the bars "Of course you did." 

"In my defense he was being a dick."

Kaidan looked at her, not fully believing her but he loved her so he wanted to hear her out. "Was he now?"

"Yes." She nodded matter of factly.

"Care to elaborate?" He looked her up and down, taking note of the mini skirt and knee high boots that he hoped had nothing to do with the reason behind Lily punching the poor guy.

"So this little boy got separated from his parents right."

"Uh huh."

"And this asshole instead of helping the poor kid, pushed him away. Can you believe that?"

"So you punched him?"

"He deserved it!"

While it wasn't the way he would've handled it, his hot headed girlfriend's first instinct when handling a problem is to either shoot it or punch it, which he has witnessed on multiple occasions. But he knew under all of that she really did care for people, which is why he loved her in the first place. She just had a different way of showing it. Honestly he was more worried about the kid now. After witnessing the most famous person in the galaxy punch out a beloved character to a lot of human children. He must've been scared.

"Did the kid at least find his parents?"

"Yeah, I helped him before c-sec arrested me."

Kaidan nodded "Good now before I get you out of here, was it a biotic punch or did you keep yourself under control in that regard?"

"Yup, totally normal punch no biotics involved whatsoever." 

"I'm gonna take your word for it, alright wait here." Kaidan walked off once again leaving Shepard alone in her cell, rubbing her sore knuckles. 

Kaidan came back with a c-sec officer a short while later and she quickly stands up, grabbing her purse and goes over to Kaidan wrapping her arms around him.

"Thank you babe." She kisses his check.

"Uh huh you're welcome." Thye walk out together and she passes by the same Santa she assaulted and flips him off one more time. Kaidan notices and grabs her hand pulling her away.

"Come on let's go." 

"Hey, can we grab some food?"

He glances at her "Yeah, I hear punching santa will really work up an appetite."

Lily laughs "Well would you rather I shot him?"

"I'd prefer if you didnt do anything and handled it like a decent human."

She gives him a look "When have you even known me to be a decent human."

Kaidan sighs "Let's just go eat."

"Act as annoyed as you want but you love me. Besides I remember you saying you liked adventurous women?"

"That is not at all what I meant by that."


	7. Sledding

"Kaidan I'm scared."

"Honey trust me you'll be fine, I'll be right here okay?"

"But I've never used a sled before, what if I break something?"

Kaidan had to pause, he'd seen the woman take down a reaper on foot, yet she was scared of sledding he found it cute but would be lying if he said it wasn't a bit odd.

"Just hold on to me and close your eyes, you'll be fine, have I ever steered you wrong before?" 

Lily thinks about it "Well...No..."

"Exactly, now trust me okay?"

Shepard takes a deep breath "Okay...I'm commander Shepard, I destroyed the reapers I can do this."

Kaidan chuckles "That's the sprit." He pushes them off the hill, Lily keeps her eyes shut tight as the cold air blows in her face and through her hair. The sled stops at the end of the hill and she opens her eyes.

"Wasn't so scary now was it?"

She shakes her head "No...can we go again?" 

Kaidan looks at her and laughs "Sure." 

She stands up "I'll race you to the top of the hill." She starts running before he can react, he forgets about the sled and chases her, catching her from behind making her giggle. 

Kaidan scoops her up and carries her the rest of the way up the hill. "I still cant believe you're scared of heights, even after all the shit you've done."

"I'm scared of spiders too."

"That I knew, which is why I'm surprised you let the rachni queen go."

"I was afraid you would stop talking to me if I committed genocide."

Kaidan didnt even have a response to that one, the answer catching him completely of guard. "I mean...I did watch you wipe out an entire colony and kill a bunch of indoctrinated salarians." 

"That's true, I guess you really do love me." 

He smiles and kisses her head "You have no idea."


	8. Holiday dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> High school au time, kinda got carried away

Lily peered into the school's library, her eyes immediately landing on her crush, Kaidan Alenko. He was an upper class man, only a year above her so it wasn't a huge deal but she doubted he even knew who she was despite having two classes together, but that wasnt going to stop her. He may have no idea who she was but she knew everything about him. He was a huge science nerd, suffered from chronic migraines and that he and his girlfriend broke it off last month, which was the most important bit of information to her. 

She made her way over, she actually put effort into appearance which confused her parents. She was on a mission and it was one she took very seriously, Lily was going to ask him to go to the school's Christmas dance with her. Well not so much ask, more of a demand but asking sounded more polite.

Kaidan looked up from his homework when Shepard sat down across the table from him. She looked different, her hair down instead of pulled in a tight pony tail and she wasnt wearing her usual leather jacket and matching combat boots, opting for black converse instead. They never talked but he found himself interested in her, they had a couple classes together mainly gym and their home economics class but they didn't run in the same circles and were polar opposites on top if that, she was hot headed and drew people to her without even trying while he kept to himself mainly due to his disability. He found himself attracted to her though regardless, not that'd he ever do anything about it. 

"Can I help you?" He asked sounding a little ruder than he indented but it didn't seem to phase her.

"You're going to the dance with me." She stated matter of factly, making him blink in surprise.

"Excuse me?" 

"You heard me." 

"Usually people ask not demand, so I'm a bit caught off guard, we've also never spoken before."

"Well we can start now." she writes her phone number down and slides it over to him.

He picks up the peice of paper and looks at it "You always this forceful?"

"Only when I really like someone." 

He runs his hand down his face and sighs "Tell you what I'll think about it and get back to you." She looks at him a bit annoyed but sighs

"Fine, you have 24 hours." She gets up and bounces away before he can respond leaving him sitting there confused.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
Lily sat on her bed that night staring at her phone, waiting for a message from Kaidan. Despite how she acted she was nervous as hell. She knew she had probably turned him off and wished she had a time machine to go fix it but instead she'd just have to deal with the consequences of her actions.

Her mother, well adoptive mother Lily's parents died a couple years ago and usually there was no hope for teenage orphans but she had been lucky. Kaylee and David were really good to her. 

Kaylee sat on the edge of the bed smiling "So what's his name?" Lily's face turned bright red.

"Wha...what makes you think it's because of a boy." 

Kaylee laughed "Cause I've been your age before, now tell me what's his name."

"Kaidan..." 

"That's why you got all dolled up."

"Mom this isn't dolled up."

Kaylee gave her a look "For you, yes it is." Lily rolls her eyes, knowing she was right but not wanting to admit it.

"What's he like?"

Lily sighed dreamily "He's smart, and kind, keeps to himself but not in a broody teenage angst way. He's also so beautiful I could cry." 

Kaylee couldnt help but chuckle, after what she'd been through it was nice to see her acting like a normal teenage girl. Suddenly Lily's phone went off and she hurriedly looked at it and found she had a message from Kaidan making her squeal.

"Its him!" She assumed so anyway, she didnt have his number so it could've been anyone. She shot up in bed and looked over his message.

"So I thought about it, and yes I'll go to the dance with you." 

She hugged her mom and showed her the phone.

"He said yes!" Lily exclaimed Kaylee barely had time to read it before Lily pulled away to type out a reply.

"Great! I'll buy tickets tomorrow." She thought about adding a little smiley face at the end but didnt want to come off too eager so she thought better of it. 

"Mom can you help me find an outfit?" 

"Of course sweetheart, let's go this weekend okay?"

"Okay!" 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
The next day at school Shepard buys the tickets to the dance, a somewhat goofy smile on her face. She makes her way to Kaidan's locker and sees him staring at something. Shs follows his line of site and sees Rahna, his ex with her new boyfriend. He shakes his head and goes back to grabbing his books from his locker. Shepard walks over to him and hands him his ticket.

"Here, no backing out now." She jokes

He chuckles "I guess not, but I'm a man of my word." 

She smiles "I'm gonna remember that." 

Kaidan smiles at her "You look nice today, by the way."

Shepard blushes her pale skin making it obvious "Thank you..." she squeaks out making him chuckle.

"Come on, I can walk you to class if you want."

She nods and silently thanks her mother for letting her commandeer her sweater. It was a lot more girly than she normally wore but if kaidan liked it then maybe she'd consider wearing more sweaters like this. Kaidan drops her off at her class and they go their separate ways. 

Lily joins Kaidan for lunch, ditching her usual friend group and sitting at a table in the back with him.

"Do you usually bring your lunch?"

She nods "Yeah, Kaylee I mean my mom packs my dad's so she does mine too. I got the better end of the deal cause she puts notes in mine."

"You're adopted?"

She unzipped her lunchbox, looking for the note Kaylee wrote for her "Yeah, I lost my parents in junior high."

Kaidan was a bit shocked that she talked about it so casually "Oh, I'm sorry."

Lily shrugs "Its fine, I think about it too much I go crazy. Besides I got lucky David and Kaylee are just as good." She says still digging for the note, her face lighting up once she pulls it out of the bag. 

"I dont think I've ever met someone like you."

She laughs "Is that a good thing?"

"I wonder..." a comfortable silence settles over them as they eat before shepard speaks up again.

"Hey Kaidan, I wanted to apologize."

"For?" He tries to think of something she'd have to be sorry about but nothing comes to mind.

"I was a little forceful and inconsiderate."

"Lily, if it bothered me I wouldn't have said yes to you." 

She blushes at the use of her name, as much as she hated it he knew how to make her blush, rather easily at that.

"I know....I just I've never liked a guy as much as I like you." 

Kaidan chokes on his drink at the sudden confession "Oh..well um I'm flattered." He didn't know how to respond but he needed to say something to her.

"I know you don't feel that way about me but hopefully...." she shakes her head "Anyway let's just eat."

After lunch they leave the cafeteria together "Thanks for letting me eat with you."

"Shepard thats not something to thank me over, I enjoyed myself too." They stand there awkwardly, Kaidan rubbing the back of his neck, a nervous tick of his. 

Lily works up all her courage and kisses his cheek shocking Kaidan "I'll see you later." She runs off, face bright red, before kaidan can respond.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
As promised Kaylee took Lily shopping that following weekend, Kaylee could tell something was up with the halfhearted way she was looking through dresses.

"Everything okay sweetheart?" 

Lily sighed "Mom, when did you know you were in love with dad?"

Kayle blushed, not expecting such a question. "Well uh, the first time we held hands I guess. Something about it just felt right. Different even."

Lily hummed "I see...you probably think I'm too young for love huh?"

Kaylee shook her head "No I dont, I think you can fall in love no matter the age."

"I'm probably just gonna sound like a stupid teenager but I loved him as soon as I saw him, as soon as I heard him speak, he has the most soothing voice and the way he smiles at me sometimes I cant help but think..." Lily sighs.

Kaylee rubs her back and kisses her head "You never know, maybe he feels the same and just hasn't worked up the courage yet."

"Maybe..." 

Kaylee pulls a dress off the rack, its black with polka dots with sheer sleeves and neck line. "How about this, I know its a little girly but with those spiky healed boots your father hates itll be very you." 

Lily looks at the dress and smiles "Okay, now I'll finally get to wear those boots huh?"

Kaylee laughs and wraps her an arm around her shoulder and pulls her close, kissing her head "If your dad says anything I'll tell him it was my idea."

Lily giggles, wrapping her arm around her mother "Deal."  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
Lily looked herself over in the mirror, shoulder length black hair curled a little bit courtesy of Kaylee, who did her makeup as well black eyeshadow with a dark purple lip color. Her nails just a simple black polish with an accent nail of black glitter on both hands. She looked good, she thought anyway but she's never gone on a date before. Most guys were either intimidated by her or thought she was just one of the guys. Kaidan was the first boy to ever call her pretty. She was bad at vocalizing it but it meant a lot to her. 

"Lily, your date is here!" Her mom shouted from down stairs. She grabbed her purse checking it over as she made her way down to the living room. Making sure she had everything she needed. 

In the living room she saw her dad giving a very nervous looking Kaidan the run down.

"Her curfew is at eleven."

"Yes si-" Kaidan was cut off

"If you do anything to hurt her or make her uncomfortable you will not like what happens am I clear?" 

Kaidan nodded "Yes sir, I'll bring her back in one piece." 

David nodded "You better." 

Lily groans and walks over to them "Dad please dont scare my date." She grabs Kaidan's hand and drags him to the door.  
"I'll see you both later."

"Have fun sweetie!" Kaylee calls after them.

"Thanks!" Lily shuts the door behind them and sighs.

"Sorry about my dad."

"Its fine." He looks her up and down "I'd be worried too." 

"You're good at making me blush you know that?"

He chuckles "I do now." Kaidan opens the passenger side door for her, shutting it as soon as she's inside and getting in the car himself, driving them to the school. 

"I mean it though, you look lovely. I'm gonna have to keep my eye on you."

She giggles "Back at ya."  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
Lily looks around the auditorium once they're inside, fascinated by the decorations.

"Wow they really went all out didnt they?"

Kaidan smiles at her, amused by her fascination with the simple decorations. 

"Come on let's go dance." She pulls him towards the dance floor making him stumble a bit. Kaidan never really liked stuff like this but being here with Lily made it fun for him, he wasn't the life of the party but she was. Her black hair bouncing because of the curls as she danced, she was awful but enthusiastic and he wasnt much better if hes being honest. A slow song came on and Lily shifted awkwardly. Kaidan could tell what she wanted to ask even as she stay quiet and avoided eye contact. 

He decided to take initiative and wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her close. 

"If you wanted to dance just ask." His face was inches away from hers, she slowly and very hesitantly wrapped her arms around his neck. They moved together, shepard burying her face in his chest out of embarrassment. 

"Hey, look at me." He whispered to her, making her shiver. She did as he asked and he stroked her cheek, looking into those deep brown eyes of her's before kissing her. It ends to quickly for them, both wanting more. 

"The library is still open." Is all he says to her, she nods and they quickly sneak out, shutting and locking the doors behind them.

Lily plops down on the side of one of the tables and Kaidan goes over to her, standing between her legs, kissing her passionately making her moan. Kaidan places his hands on her bare legs, slowly sliding them up under her dress stopping at her thighs. Saliva slides down her chin, her eyes half open drowning in the pleasure she was feeling just from his kisses. He pulled away and could see tears forming in her eyes.

"What's wrong? Was that too much?" 

She shakes her head "No, I'm happy. I meant it when I said I liked you."

"I know, I like you too Lily."

She gasps "Really?"

"Yeah, I was always a little interested in you but after talking to you I realized it was a lot more than that." He kisses her forehead and she closes her eyes, smiling.

Her tears start to stream down her face "Hey, keep that up and your dads gonna think I hurt you."

She laughs and he wipes her tears away being careful to not mess up her makeup. 

"Should we get back to the dance?"

She hugs him and shakes her head "No, I wanna stay like this." Kaidan nods and holds her.

"Yes ma'am."  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
A couple days later Lily and Kaidan are in the library, Kaidan working on something while she just sits there on the edge of the table swinging her legs back and forth.

"Hey Kaidan?" 

"Hm?" 

"Am I your girlfriend?"

He pauses and without looking up answers "Well what do you think?"

"Yes?"

He nods "Well there's your answer."

She pouts "But I wanted to hear you say it."

Kaidan smiles and looks up "Yes Lily, you're my girlfriend." 

She smiles and kisses him quickly before hoping off the table and grabbing her bag "Good, now I'll let you get back to whatever it is you're doing."

"Homework, something you might want to think about doing too."

She shrugs "I will I will, maybe later though." Kaidan nods rolling his eyes, knowing her penchant for procrastination and how later meant much later. 

"Bye babe!" She says a little too loudly for the librarian's liking and he waved at her still not looking up from his book.


	9. Proposal

Kaidan knew Lily's favorite holiday, Christmas. During the war they had talked about what their future together would be like after it was all finished, marriage and kids just the standard stuff well now that it was all over and the reapers weren't coming back he wanted to make it a reality. Give shepard the life she deserved. 

Shepard was still at work, he was honestly surprised she was offered a position on the council and even more shocked that she accepted. She hated politicians, hell she even killed the first council when saren attacked. But she was making things easier for the alliance and humans in general so it wasnt all bad, as an admiral he appreciated the extra help.

Kaidan intended to propose to her on Christmas eve, take her on a date then pop the question so while she was at work he was busy looking for the perfect ring. It was harder than he expected, there were a couple good candidates but making a decision was another matter entirely. He eventually found the perfect one and just in time too, his omni tool got message from Shepard as he was leaving the store.

"I'm home, where are you?"

Kaidan panics, he needed to come up with a plausible excuse so he didn't tip her off. 

"I just went to pick up dinner, sushi okay?"

"Hell yes, you know that's one of my major food groups."

Kaidan smiled "Thought so, I'll be home soon."

"Okay, love you!"

"Love you too." Lily had become more affectionate and honest with her feelings since the war ended. Not that she was cold in the past, after everything she'd been through it was hard for her to express her feelings after years of having to hide them. Kaidan told her not to change for his sake, but she told him as she laid in her hospital bed waiting for him, she regretted not being as honest, only telling him she finally loved him before a dangerous mission to take down Cerberus. 

He made his way to the same sushi restaurant Lily had shot up on shore leave. The memory of it still making him laugh, she wasn't as amused by it as the rest of the crew was. He sat down at the bar for a beer while he waited on their food and took the ring out of his pocket and looked at it. 

"That's a beautiful ring." The bartender commented as he wiped down the bar top.

"Thanks, took me a minute to decide."

"Well you made a good choice, I'm sure she'll love it." 

Kaidan smiled "I hope so." A server came over and handed him his order, putting the ring in his pocket before he got up to leave.

"Good luck." The bartender called after him.

He turned around and smiled "Thank you."

\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
Kaidan returned home and found Shepard laying on the couch in nothing but one of his shirts and a pair of panties. He sits the food on the table and goes over to her, he gets down in front of her on the couch, and kisses her. She wraps her arms around him pulled him closer. Much to her dismay he pulls away. 

"I got dinner if you're hungry." He gets up and walks to the kitchen, making her pout, she gets up and follows him sitting down on a bar stool and taking everything out of the bag while Kaidan grabs them something to drink before sitting next to her. 

"Are you going out with Liara for Christmas eve?" Lily looks over at him, her mouth full of sushi, reminding Kaidan of a hamster. She swallowed before responding.

"No, she's got plains with Javik." 

"Looks like I have you all to myself."

She smiles at him "Why? Did you have something planned?"

Kaidan shrugs "Maybe, you'll just have to wait and see."

She groans "You know I hate surprises."

"It'll be worth it."

She looked at him suspiciously "Hmmm, alright I'll trust you."

"Now hurry up and eat, that outfit it very tempting." 

She smiles "That was the goal."  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------

Throughout the week Kaidan got increasingly more nervous, he did a pretty good job at hiding it since Shepard hadn't pointed it out. Kaidan sat in the living room waiting for Shepard who was still in the middle of getting ready, he took the ring out of his pocket and looked at it. It was a simple gold band with a small diamond on it. Shepard always found rings with huge diamonds on them obnoxious, and unfortunately they were popular so naturally that's all most stores had, he had gotten lucky. 

Lily came downstairs, her outfit stopping him in his tracks. She had on a short, black layered tulle skirt with a creme sweater tucked into it with a furry black scarf tied around her neck and a pair of black tights and pumps. 

"You look..."

"Beautiful, stunning, gorgeous?"

"Yes, yes and yes." 

She giggles "So what's on the agenda babe?"

"I was thinking the arcade and then Chinese food."

She swoons "A man after my own heart."

He laughs at her and offers her his arm "What, I didnt have it already?" He jokes.

Lily kisses his cheek "You've always had it."

Kaidan smiles and kisses her head as they walk out and to the arcade  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
Shepard beats him at shattered eezo repeatedly, after her fifth win she's convinced he's just letting her win which he denied not that she believed him, until they played relay defense at which point she discovered he just really sucks at shattered eezo although games of skill were right up his alley so it wasn't all that surprising.

"Wanna see who's better at the claw game?" 

"Honey you realize it's just a game of random chance right?"

She waves him off "You only say that cause you know I'm gonna win." She teased.

"Really? Trash talk at a claw game?" He knew how competitive she could be so it wasnt surprising, amusing but not surprising. 

She ran up the stars to the claw game and Kaidan made sure he was prepared to catch her, due to injuries she sustained by being crushed by the citadel threw off her equilibrium a bit so she was clumsier than she used to be. 

She made it to the claw machine and inserted a couple credits into the machine and started it up. He stood next to her and watched as she concentrated, very hard much to his amusement. 

"Damn it..." 

"Alright my turn." She stepped aside and watched, he ending up winning eliciting a groan from her as he bent down to pick up the prize. He handed it to her, and she snatched it. Ironically enough it was a plush toy of her.

"Its mocking me." 

Kaidan laughed "I'm keeping it." 

"You wouldn't dare." 

"What? it's cute, almost as cute as you." 

She rolls her eyes "Why they make these, I dont understand."

"You're a symbol of hope honey, a lot of people including kids look up to you." She stays silent and he kisses her head making her smile.

"Sweet talker."

Kaidan smiles "Should we go play towers of Hanoi next?"

She glares at him and punches his arm "You think you're funny."

He laughs "Come on, should we go eat?"

"Please, I've been thinking about crab rangoon all day."

He wraps his arm around her waist and they leave the arcade together, Shepard holding the doll to her chest. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
"You know, this is reminds me of the date you took me on Christmas eve during the sr-1 days." Shepard takes a crab rangoon, tearing it apart and dipping it in some sweet and sour sauce.

"I didn't know you still thought about that."

She nods as she swallows "I thought about it the whole time we were separated, it was one of the happiest days of my life. It might've not meant much to you but it meant everything to me."

He holds her hand across the table "Meant a lot to me too."

He kisses her hand "Hey Shepard, there's something I need to ask you."

"What's that?" 

Kaidan reaches into his jacket pocket "Well-" he gets cut off by their waiter sitting their food down in front of them.

Shepards face lights up and she starts to eat "God their lo main is amazing, so what is it you wanted to ask?" 

"Oh it can wait for later."

She looks at him curiously "If you say so...."  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
They walk back to the apartment hand in hand and Shepard looks over at him.

"You know what would be a perfect end to the night?"

"What?"

"We should watch soft shoe number."

Kaidan groans "Shepard that movie is terrible."

"I know! That's what makes it great. " Lily says excitedly.

Kaidan didnt have the heart to say no after seeing the smile on her face. 

"Fine...."

"Besides your favorite movie is husks 2, I dont want to hear it."

"At least that movie had a budget."

She sticks her tounge out at him "Again that's what makes it great."

\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
Kaidan is pulling up the vid on her tv when she walks down wearing pajamas.

"We have popcorn right?" She asks as she walks to the kitchen.

"I think so." Kaidan watches her as she searches the cabinets and walks over to her closing his omni tool. She finally finds what she's looking for and turns around, smiling.

"Found it." She throws it in the microwave and leans against the bar top watching it when Kaidan walks up next to her. She nuzzles against his arm.

"Oh yeah you wanted to ask me something, what was it?"

He wordlessly grabs her and sets her on top of the bar and looks into her eyes "Marry me Shepard." Shepard gasps, her mind trying to process what he just said. 

"Ye-yes!" She hugs him tightly "Took you long enough." 

He wraps his arms around her and smiles "I wanted to do it right." 

She pulls away and cups his face with her hands and kisses him. He brings his hands up and pulls her hair out of the bun she had it in. He started kissing her neck, leaving marks he knew she'd complain about the next day not that he cared from her moans he could tell she liked it. He pulls off her hoodie, revealing that she wasn't wearing a bra. His lips immediately going to suck on her left nipple while his hand worked on the right. She wrapped her legs around him and pulled him close her hands pulling at his shirt. He pulled away and lifted it up off his body tossing it to the side. He kissed down her body, bringing his hands down to the waist band of her shorts and pulling them and her underwear down tossing them to the side not caring where they ended up, all he cared about was making Shepard scream his name so loud their neighbors heard.

He pulled away and spread her legs apart, taking in the view of her perfect breasts and wet pussy. Kaidan couldnt wait to be inside her, but first he wanted to tease her a little. He lifted her hips up and starting licking and sucking on her clit before finally putting his tounge inside as deep as he could making her cry out. He made her cum a couple times before finally pushing his cock inside her. 

Kaidan starts pounding into her, one of his hands going between them to rub her clit, making her cum hard around his cock. Kaidan doesn't let up and continues thrusting hard and fast into her helping her ride out her orgasm. She clung to him as she cried from the pleasure cumming again, this time Kaidan coming with her emptying himself inside her. Kaidan kissed her as they lay there panting.

"I love you." Lily whispers to him

"I love you too, always will." He pulls out of her and walks over to the couch, taking the ring out of his jacket pocket.

Lily sits up and fixes her clothes "What's up babe?"

Kaidan makes his way back over to her, he takes the ring out of the box and slips it on her finger. 

Lily looks down at it "Its beautiful."

Kaidan kisses her hand "Merry Christmas."

She smiles with tears in her eyes "Merry Christmas."


	10. After noveria

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah couldnt think of a clever title

Kaidan knew something was up when shepard started acting weird, they were flirting as usual but something was different. She was laughing, a lot which was totally uncharacteristic for her and she was talking fast, like really fast to the point Kaidan had a hard time understanding her. 

"Hey shepard, stand still real quick." She looked confused but did as she was asked. The lieutenant being the only person on the ship who could give her an order. Kaidan placed a hand on her forehead and nodded.

"I figured." It was an old fashioned way of checking for a fever so he ran a diagnostic check on her with his omni tool and sure enough, Shepard had a cold. Not surprising they were in the middle of a blizzard all day, he was surprised the entire ground team including himself wasnt sick.

"Shepard you're sick."

"That's crazy, I feel fi-" her sentence was interrupted by a sneeze. 

"You were saying?"

Shepard looks at him "You can't tell Chakwas, please. I'll do whatever you want."

"Whatever I want? Okay, right now I want you to get some rest."

Shepard sighs "Fine..." Kaidan watched her walk off into her cabin and decided to head to the citadel to pick up what he needed to take care of Shepard since he knew stopping by the med bay would tip the doctor off and he didnt want to face Shepard's wrath when she was better.

After a quick trip to the Citadel Kaidan returned to the ship and looked around to make sure no one saw him go into Shepard's cabin. He set down what he had bought on the table in the middle of her room. As much as Kaidan didnt want to wake Shepard up but he had to so she could take the medicine he bought.

Kaidan quietly walks over to her bed and sits on the edge of it. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful Lily was, her long, thick black hair, her soft red lips, she once said her pale skin made her look like a vampire but he thought she was beautiful. 

Kaidan slowly reached out to stroke her cheek "Shepard, hey you need to wake up so you can take some meds." He whispered. Lily groaned and opened her eyes. He removed his hand from her cheek and went to grab her medicine. 

"Here you go, I got you something warm to drink too."

She gives him a quizzical look "Kaidan you know I only drink iced coffee."

He nods "Yes ma'am I do, which is why I got you hot chocolate."

She takes the cup out of his hands hoping that the dim lights hit the smile on her face. She takes a sip and smiles even more.

"Peppermint...you remembered."

Kaidan couldn't see it very well but he knew she was smiling which made him smile in return "I remember everything thing about you...ma'am." He rubbed the back of his neck a nervous tick of his she's come to notice.

"Anyway, here's the medicine you're supposed to take it every 4 hours but hopefully it'll knock you out and you won't have to worry about it."

Kaidan started to walk away and Shepard quickly set her cup down and grabbed his hand.

"Will you stay with me? At least till I fall asleep..."

Kaidan looked at her surprised by the request. As much as they flirted a request like this still flustered him. But he found it harder to say no to her with each passing day. 

Kaidan swallowed hard and nodded "Okay..." he walked back over to her bed and she moved over a bit to make room. Kaidan got under the covers with her and laid down next to her. Lily rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around his torso and buried her face in his chest, enjoying the scent of his cologne which was rare among marines.

"Kaidan, you can relax. I asked you to stay cause I wanted to cuddle with you. No need to be so stiff."

Kaidan slowly wrapped his arms around her pulling her closer and taking in the scent of her shampoo, lavender not that alliance issue stuff other crew members used. 

"Much better, that wasnt so hard was it?" 

"No ma'am just...unexpected." Kaidan's face was bright red. Her breasts pressed against him through her thin black tank top and her thighs left bare by the gray shorts she wore brushed against his legs as she shifted in the bed. Kaidan ran his fingers through her hair a bit surprised by how soft it was.

"If you keep doing that, I'm gonna fall asleep."

Her voice snapped him back to reality and he sighed "Well Shepard you're sick, so that's kind of the goal here."

"Lily."

"What?"

"My first name, when we're alone you can use my first name."

"Okay um...Lily." 

Shepard smiled, she loved the way it sounded when he said it. His voice was so soothing especially now. She felt herself drifting off to sleep which was disappointing she wanted to talk to him some more and feel his arms around her for as long as she could.

"Hey Kaidan....thank you."

Kaidan kisses her head "You're welcome, now go to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."

"Promise?" 

"I promise."  
‐-----‐---------------------------------------------------------------  
Lily woke up a few hours later, the pressure in her face and head gone. She glanced up and saw Kaidan's sleeping face inches away from hers. She strokes Kaidan's cheek and presses her lips against his. They were softer than she expected but she wasn't complaining. 

She wanted to wake him up and make out with him but she didn't have the energy and didn't want to ruin the moment. She closed her eyes again and huged him tighter praying to whatever god existed that this could last forever.


	11. Snowed in

Kaidan and Lily had both drawn the short straw this morning and were suiting up to go on survey duty in the mako. It was both a curse and a blessing for Kaidan, as big as his crush on Shepard was and as much as he loved spending time with her, she had awful taste in music and her driving was just as bad.

They hopped into the mako together and Lily turned on some music and Kaidan groaned earning a laugh from her.

"Oh dont be so dramatic, it's not that bad."

Kaidan rolled his eyes "I guess joker's is a lot worse than yours."

"Excatly now let's get going."   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
This planet was snowy, like really snowy worse than noveria which was saying something. 

"Do you think we should pull over? At least until the storm let's up?" Shepard didn't want to but she knew Kaidan was right. She found a good spot to park the mako in and her and Kaidan climbed to the back seat after cranking the heat up. The back seat was far more spacious and if they were gonna be hanging out for a while they might as well get comfy. 

Lily couldn't have felt luckier, snowed in with the man she had a crush on was the best thing to happen all week. She had an excuse to cuddle with him.

"Hey kaidan, I'm cold can I move a little closer towards you?" 

Kaidan reached down below the seat and handed her a blanket "Here, this might help more." Shepard looked at him and had the urge to punch him in that perfect face of his but she ignored it. Lily grabbed the blanket and draped it over both of them as she cuddle up next to him.

"Good idea lieutenant." Kaidan's face turned a light shade of pink, his tan skin making it a bit harder to notice. They sat there in silence aside from the sound of the wind outside.

There was something weighing on Lily's mind as she sat cuddled next to a very tensed up Kaidan. She wondered if he felt the same way she did. His body language with her was much different from the things he said to her in private and she'd be lying if she said it wasn't confusing.

"Kaidan, do you not like me?" Kaidan looked at her surprised and confused by the sudden question.

"What gave you that idea?" Shepard fidgeted nervously.

"Well yeah we flirt and stuff but when I asked to cuddle with you, you handed me a blanket and you always tense up when I get close to you. How am I not supposed to think that?"

Kaidan sighs "I do like you Shepard, a lot more than I should." Shepard smiled at his sudden confession.

"Yeah, why don't you show me?"

"Show you what?" 

She climbs onto his lap and smiles "How much you like me." This time he was sure lily could see how red his face was. He hesitantly reached up and pulled her scrunchie out of her hair. He's never seen it down like this, it was beautiful. He gently brushed it out of her face stroking her cheek in the process. Lily smiled and leaned into his touch. Kaidan brought his hand up higher and ran his finger through her hair, she leaned in close and planted a light kiss to his lips. They looked into each others eyes and without missing a bit Kaidan kisses her. It started off slow and sweet but soon turned more intense, the hunger they felt being expressed through the way they kissed. 

She felt herself getting wetter and wetter, her body shuddered from the feeling of his tongue in her mouth, her body ached for him. She wanted him to make love to her but fuck her till she couldnt walk at the same time. 

They pull away for air and Kaidan looks at her. "Did that answer your question?"

Lily nods "I want you kaidan, right now." Kaidan's brain could barely register what Shepard said to him. He wanted her too, more than anything in the galaxy. 

Lily slowly started working on her armor, making sure to give Kaidan a show. He watched as she undressed, her skin was so beautiful, he leaned in close and and kissed every inch of exposed skin causing quiet moans to escape her lips. Kaidan gently laid her down on the backseat, his arm wrapped around her waist and his hand on the back of her head. Lily looked up at him, she smiled and brought her hand up to his cheek and he grabbed it, kissing the palm. He kissed down her arm and nibbled at her shoulder and neck. 

He lifted up her camo sports bra, not surprised at all by the pattern. He tossed it aside and cupped her breasts, they were bigger than he expected, not that he was complaining.

"You just gonna gawk or are you gonna make me feel good?" She teased.

Taking that as an invitation he started licking and sucking on her breasts enjoying the moans he was getting from her. He bit down and pulled her nipple lightly with his teeth and she came. 

"Kaidan!" He pulled away and watched her tremble below him enjoying the sound of her crying out his name. His eyes were drawn to her panties which were soaking wet, he pulled down her panties and licked his lips at the sight. Her swollen clit, her arousal he wanted to taste her. Not being able to resist he kissed lower and ran his tounge along her sensitive nub. She gasped and her hand went down to grab his hair. His cock ached for her and he couldnt wait to be inside her, feel her clamp down around him. But right now it was about making her feel good.

Kaidan slid two fingers into Shepard and she came again from the feeling of both his tounge and fingers.

Kaidan didnt stop and helped her ride out her orgasm making her scream. "God Kaidan..." he pulled away and started removing his armor Shepard watching in anticipation. 

"Hurry please, I want you."

"How do you want me to do you Shepard?" His voice low and his eyes dark with lust for her. The question made her shudder and she wasn't exactly sure either.

"I...I want you to make love to me." Kaidan nodded and kissed her deeply as he slowly pushed his cock inside her all the way to the hilt. Kaidan waited for her to adjust before he slowly stared thrusting into her. They moaned between kisses, getting high off the feeling of each other. They had both wanted this for such a long time, neither of them were truly convinced this was real. 

Kaidan pulled away from her lips and whispered in her ear "Can I go faster?" 

Lily nodded "Please, give me more." Kaidan responds by thrusting harder and faster into her. He kisses every inch of skin he can reach. He loved her, he loved her so much his chest ached and he could hardly breathe. He knew he'd never tell her, he couldn't bring himself to, all he could do was express it through kissing her, touching her making her feel good. 

"Ah...K...Kaidan I'm gonna cum again." 

Kaidan nodded "Me too." 

They came together, screaming each others names. He emptied himself inside her and Shepard wrapped her legs around him pushing him deeper as she came around his cock. They laid in each others arms neither of them having the energy to move.

Kaidan closed his eyes when shepard whispered something that shocked him awake "I love you." 

He kissed her forehead and smiled "I love you too Lily, so much." 

She smiled and pulled him down for another kiss, completely forgetting about the storm outside.


	12. Christmas eve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something from the neighbors au I've been working on

Kaidan and Lily stepped into the elevator at the same time both holding bags of food. 

She presses the button taking them to their floor "Merry Christmas." She says, smiling at him.

Kaidan smiles back "Merry Christmas, have any plans tonight?"

She shakes her head "Just the stereotypical plans of a cat lady, wine and dessert maybe a few movies. You?"

"My parents live in Canada and cause of my job I wasn't able to go this year, so I'm upholding one of our traditions on my own." He says, showing her the bag.

This was Lily's chance, she had a huge crush on Kaidan. They lived across from each other so they bumped into each other all the time. He was cute, polite and most importantly he liked her cat. So he was pretty much her dream guy. She hadn't told him, and they've never really hung out but since they were both alone tonight it was the perfect opportunity. 

They stepped off the elevator together and as they were walking to their apartments Lily worked up her courage and decided to ask him "Kaidan, do you um...want to spend Christmas with me?" 

Kaidan looks over at her "With you?" She looks at him, her nervousness evident on her face and nods.

He smiles at her "Sure, that sounds great." 

Lily sighs in relief making Kaidan laugh "Were you afraid I'd say no?"

"A little..." 

"I actually was planning on asking you." He blushes and rubs the back of his neck, looking away from her.

"Well looks like I beat you to it." 

"I'm glad you did, I probably would've gotten in my own head about it." 

Lily smirks "When I want something I go for it, I'll deal with the consequences later." 

Kaidan chuckles "I think I already knew that about you."   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
They enter Lily's apartment and her cat sophie walked over to them, rubbing against Kaidan's legs as if to say hi. 

Kaidan bends down and scratches under her chin "Hi there." She closes her eyes and starts purring. Lily was impressed by how much her cat liked him, all the other guys she brought around sophie hated. Like Jacob, he was nice enough or so she thought he ended up cheating on her and got the girl pregnant so she trusted Sophie's judgment from that point on. 

Shepard set their bags on her dining room table and started unpacking them. Kaidan got up to help her and sophie trotted off behind them, making a detour over to her food bowl. 

"She usually hates the guys I bring by, they say animals are a good judge of character you know?"

"So I've heard, have any examples?"

She chuckles "Yeah, how much time do you have?"

He raises his eyebrows "Really? I'm the only one she's liked?"

Lily nods as she takes a couple glasses from the cabinet "Yeah, there was this sweet guy named James who I liked a lot but sophie was really cold towards. Ended up breaking up with me cause he was stationed out of state." 

"Sounds like she's trying to help her mom."

Shepard smiles "She's a good girl." She twists the cap off the wine bottle and pours her self some "Do you want some wine?"

"I'm okay, I'll stick with beer." 

"I bought nothing but sweets and you have actual real food, we're the perfect pair." She realizes what she just said and her face turns bright red. "Come on let's uh move to the living room." She grabs the bags and sets the food on the coffee table. Bringing plates and silverware with her. 

Kaidan follows behind her taking their drinks with him. "So, how do you spend Christmas eve Lily?"

She looks at him "three words, bad. christmas. movies."

"How bad?"

"Cheesy, cookie cutter romantic comedies." 

"Ugh, I'm starting to regret this."

Lily laughs "they get better the drunker you get, trust me."  
‐---------------------------------------------------------‐-----------  
Kaidan was doing his best to pay attention to the movie, he really was but during the credits of the last one Shepard had gone to get changed and came back out with her hair, that was usually held up in a bun down. It was longer than he thought going all the way down to her waist. Her legs clearly visible thanks to the shorts she wore and a sweater cut just low enough to see her cleavage. It was going to be a long night.

Lily settled down back on the couch next to him, grabbing the remote. "Ready for the next one?" 

Kaidan nodded as he took a good look at her body "Yeah...."

Lily smiles and moves closer to him after she turns on the movie and throws a blanket over them both. Kaidan liked Lily, a lot. He had the feeling she might feel the same but he didn't want to make any assumptions and he certainly had no intentions of asking her. Shepard flirted and cuddled with him more as the night went on, Kaidan had his arm wrapped around her and her head on his shoulder as they watched the movie. 

As it faded to black and the credits started rolling Shepard straddled him, making his eyes go wide "Lily?" She interrupted him with a kiss, Kaidan hesitated before placing his hands on her hips as they made out. 

She pulled away smiling "I've been wanting to do that for a while." 

Kaidan smiles at her and cups her face in his hands, kissing her gently she wraps her arms around his neck and runs her fingers through his hair. 

Kaidan pulls away and looks into her eyes "I've been wanting to do that for a while too." Shepard pulls him down on the couch on top of her kissing him again, the movie forgotten as they make love on the couch the rest of the night.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
Lily woke up on the couch the next morning covered by a blanket with sophie sleeping on top of her. She looks around confused and sits up taking sophie in her arms and holds her "Kaidan?" 

She stands up, still holding sophie and looks around for him, she walks back into the living room discouraged after not being able to find him in her tiny apartment. She sits back on the couch just as Kaidan comes through the door with breakfast.

"Sorry, took me a while to find a place that was open." 

Shepard smiles and walks over to him "And here I thought you had left me."

Kaidan kisses her cheek "Never." 

She sets sophie on the table and she sniffs the box of donuts, trying to get into it with her paws as Lily wraps her arms around him "I dont want this to be some one night stand Kaidan."

Kaidan kisses her head "I don't either." 

She smiles "Good, cause I can be pretty stubborn when I dont get what I want." 

Sophie hops off the table and trots over to them pawing against Kaidan's legs and meowing.

They look down at her and smile "Looks like she's happy too." 

Kaidan let's go of her and bends down to pet sophie "Dont worry, I'll make sure your mom is happy." Sophie meows and pushes her head against his hand. 

"You better or I might have to sic my cat on you." She teases making kaidan laugh. He sits down next to her and kisses her hand. 

"Gotta say best Christmas I've had in a long time."

Kaidan smiles "Me too."


	13. I'll be home for Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drew from my experience as an army brat

Kaidan was finally back on the citadel after being deployed for close to a year. He missed Shepard and their daughter, Ashley. Lucky for him he was home just in time for Christmas, he had already done Christmas shopping on the extranet so he could run straight home.

He walked through the door to their apartment and was immediately tackled by Ashley.

"Welcome back daddy!" 

Kaidan picks her up and hugs her tightly "I've missed you so much babygirl."

She hugs him, her tiny hands gripping the back of his uniform "I missed you too daddy." They stand in the door way hugging when the house starts to smell like its burning. 

"Sweetheart, where's your mom?" 

Ashley points towards the kitchen "She's making cookies."

"Great..." he sets her down in the couch "I'll be right back sweetie." Kaidan walks to the kitchen, leaving Ashley in the living room and sees Lily standing there, glaring at a pan of very burnt cookies. 

"Everything okay?"

Lily looks over at him and stops in her tracks "Kaidan!" She runs over and hugs him almost causing him to fall over. Before he can even say anything she kisses him, he wraps his arms around her and holds her close. They pull away and he buries his face in her neck taking in her scent.

"I've missed you." 

Shepard smiles "I missed you too." 

Kaidan looks over at the cookies "So what happened with the cookies?" 

Lily looks over and sighs "Well you know how I always snuggle Ash to help her sleep? Well it was time for her nap so I went to put her down and..."

"Mommy decided she wanted to nap too?" 

Lily looks down dejected and nods "Yeah, hence the burnt cookies." Kaidan walks over to check if they were salvageable, but they looked more like charcoal then they did cookies.

Ashley runs into the kitchen and joins her father in looking at the cookies, by getting on her tip toes and holding onto the edge of the counter. She looks at her dad then back at the cookies and then at her mom.

"We aren't giving these to santa are we?" Kaidan laughed at his daughter's bluntness, she was definitely Shepard's kid.

"Dont worry baby girl, santa is the one that gives people charcoal not the other way around." 

Ashley sighs in relief "Good, santa might not come back if we give him these."

Shepard rolls her eyes "You're both as bad as each other." 

Kaidan goes back over to her and kisses her cheek "It's okay honey, come on let's make some new ones."

"Aren't you tired though babe?"

Kaidan shrugs "Yeah, but I've missed my girls." 

Lily smiles and Ashley runs over to hug his legs "We've missed you too daddy." 

Kaidan bends down to pick her up "Besides someone has to make sure you don't burn the cookies again."

"Very funny." Lily puts her oven mit back on and goes to toss the old cookies when Ashley stops her.

"Wait can't we give those to uncle Wrex?"

Lily and Kaidan look at each other and shrug "A krogan would be the only species that would find these edible." 

Lily sets them down and puts them in a container "There, merry Christmas Wrex." 

Kaidan chuckles "Alright now lets get to making the cookies shall we?"  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
As the cookies bake Kaidan and Lily set up what they need to decorate as Ash watches the final minute on the timer count down.

"Come on cookies hurry!"

Kaidan and Lily laugh "Santa doesn't come till late tonight they'll be ready by then." Kaidan assures her. 

The timer dings and Lily grabs the oven mitts and takes them out, setting them on the counter. "Alright, we just need to let them cool down a bit before decorating."

They settle down on the couch together, Kaidan with his arm around shepard and Ashley sitting on his lap. 

"So how was this tour babe?"

Kaidan sighs "It was fine, I signed up to be in space but I couldn't wait to be done and see you two again."

"Ash and I started counting down the days towards the end, didn't we sweetie?" 

Ashley nods "I even asked santa to make sure you were back this year."

Kaidan smiles "I know he told me, and I wasnt about to disappoint my babygirl." 

Later after Ashley had gone to sleep, Lily and Kaidan returned to their room to grab her presents to set them under the tree. Lily picks up the plate of cookies and carries them over to Kaidan.

"Gotta say we outdid ourselves with these." Kaidan nods in response after taking a bite. 

She sets the cookies down and wraps her arms around him "So tell me santa, am I on the naughty or nice list?" Shepard purrs, Kaidan grabs her ass and pulls her close making her yelp.  
"Well, I'm sure you could convince me to put you on the nice list." 

She smirks "I think I can manage that." She kisses him, Kaidan grabs the back of her hair with one hand and the other grabbing her ass making her moan.

Ashley hears talking downstairs and immediately bolts out of bed running downstairs expecting to see santa but instead sees something shes not supposed to.

Lily's pajama top was unbuttoned exposing her bra, Kaidan cupped both her breats with his hands, kissing and leaving marks on her neck making her moan. Ashley didn't recognize her father dressed as santa, leaving her shocked by the scene in front of her.

"Santa what are you doing to my mommy?" Ashley's voice shocked them and they immediately pulled apart, Shepard pulling her shirt close and buttoning it so quickly it was uneven.

Lily rushes over to Ashley "Baby what are you doing out of bed?"

"I heard talking and thought it was santa."

She nods "Right....how about we go up to bed sweetie?"

Ashley nods "Okay mommy..." she looks over Lily's shoulder at santa "Thanks for bringing my daddy back." Ashley falls asleep in her arms before he can respond. 

Lily returns to their room, Kaidan waiting for her on the bed in his pajamas.

"Well that was mortifying." Lily said as she closed the door behind her.

"Hopefully she doesn't remember this...ever." 

Lily gets in bed and cuddles up with him "If she does I probably look like an awful mother." 

"Oh stop that, come on we can deal with it in the morning let's get some sleep."

Lily yawns her exhaustion finally catching up with her "Good night babe, I've missed you."

He kisses her head "I missed you too honey."


	14. The Christmas party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> College au, sheploo and miranda make a little appearance :D

Kaidan stood against the wall of the very full very crowded frat house, beer can in hand. John had dragged him to a Christmas party because he thought Kaidan needed to get out more but he knew the real reason. John's crush, Miranda was there so why Kaidan had to go he had no idea but here he was bored out of his mind and drinking cheap beer. 

"Hey."

Kaidan looked over and saw John's sister, Lily standing against the wall next to him. 

"Hey." 

Lily sipped at her spiked eggnog "Didnt expect to see you here." She commented.

"Yeah, well I have your brother to thank."

She snorted "You could technically blame Miranda too."

"True, what about you? I remember you said you hated these things."

She nods as she takes another sip of her drink "Oh absolutely, but I love Christmas." 

He nods "You look nice by the way, I mean uh I like your sweater very um festive." He clears his throat and looks away from her. Okay so he may have a little bit of a crush on her, but John was his best friend and dating his sister would be a little weird so he kept it under wraps.

She giggles making Kaidan's heart jump "Thanks, it's actually my mom's but I stole it." He was suddenly very thankful to John, she had paried the sweater with form fitting black leggings and she wore her hair down instead of her usual tight bun. Honestly, nice was an understatement. 

"I'm liking the flannel, very Canadian." She teased

He rolled his eyes "Ha, very funny." 

She elbowed him "I'm just messing with ya K, can I call you K?" Normally he'd shoot it down right away but he found it hard to say no to her.

"Sure...." he begrudgingly agreed, he knew John would rub it in his face later but he didnt care. 

They looked over and saw Miranda and John flirting, Miranda was as beautiful as usual. She was the most popular girl in school and John coincidentally was the most popular guy in school so they were the perfect pair. 

"They would be cute together." Lily comments watching with a smile on her face, her and her brother were really close being navy brats it came with the territory. They were also twins, well fraternal twins so unless you knew them you wouldnt have guessed. 

Lily looks into her empty cup "Out of eggnog, come with me?" 

"Sure." Shepard wasn't but he could tell a lot of the guys were drunk and he knew Lily could handle herself but you could never be too careful. 

She grabbed his hand, catching him off guard "Just so we don't lose each other." Kaidan shrugged he didnt mind nor did he think much of it since it was crowded. If there was one complaint girls had about him it's that he was as dense as it got when it came to flirting something Lily was about to find out.

They get to the kitchen and Kaidan let's go of her hand, a little too quickly for Shepard's liking. She shrugs it off and sets her cup on the counter pouring half of it with vodka and the other half eggnog.

"Isn't it usually like rum or something?"

Shepard puts the eggnog away and looks at him "Trust me I'm disappointed too, but I hate parties and vodka gets me drunk quicker." And she was right, a couple hours into them being there she was already a little drunk, Kaidan was tipsy but getting there too. They had lost John and Miranda and were huddled up on a couch in the corner of the living room. 

"So, why don't you have a girlfriend?" She asked slurring her words a bit.

"Why don't you have a boyfriend?"

She playfully punches his shoulder "Shut up I asked you first."

Lucky for Kaidan he was still sober enough to lie "Just school I guess." Very convincing Kaidan. Lily clearing didn't buy it either by the look on her face.

"You're a fucking liar." She told him matter of factly.

He rolls his eyes "Fine, it would just be an awkward situation for my friends."

She nods "Yeah, same here. Well for my brother anyway." Which to her was basically the same thing. 

"One of your brother's friends?"

She nods "Yup, friends ex girlfriend?"

He shakes his head "No, worse."

"Mom?"

"Ew, no not that bad."

"Sister?"

He finally nods "Younger or older?"

He shrugs "Depends on which one you ask."

Lily knew that was code for them being twins. 

"Soooo you like me then?" She gave him a drunk, goofy smile.

Kaidan choked on his beer "I never said that."

"Oh please Alenko, I'm drunk not stupid." 

"Say you are right, what then?" 

Lily sets her cup down and leans over to kiss him, in plain view of everyone at the party. She pulls away and smiles at his confused face.

"I like you too." She didn't give him a chance to respond before she hopped on his lap. There were at least five other couples making out in the living room, it honestly wouldnt have surprised him if John and Miranda were having sex somewhere. So they didn't really stand out but it was still a little awkward.

"I'm not exactly complaining but, if you wanna do this can we go somewhere not so public?" Lily shrugged and hopped off his lap, pulling him up with her and making a beeline for the stairs to one of the rooms. Shoving Kaidan inside as soon as they came across an empty one.

Lily shut the door and grabbed Kaidan's face pulling him in for a kiss, which he eagerly returned. She had her arms around his neck and his wrapped around her waist holding her close. Their need finally becoming evident in the way they held and kissed each other. They kicked their shoes off and pulled at each others clothes. Kaidan, who Lily quickly made sure was shirtless had pulled off her sweater and tossed it to the side not caring where it landed and started working on her bra. Lily made quick work of his pants as well and he stepped out of them, kicking them to the side. Lily's leggings followed after along with her lacy black panties and she pushed him back on the bed, slowly and seductively climbing on top of him. 

She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen and he couldn't wait to be inside her. It didn't matter what it meant for his and John's friendship, Lily was the only person on his mind right now. He rolled on top of her, settling himself between her legs and she wrapped her arms around him pulling him back in for a kiss. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
The next morning Kaidan woke up with the worst headache, nothing compared to his migraines thankfully but still pretty bad. He looked around the room confused and felt someone shift in his arms, he looked over and it was John's sister, Lily. Kaidan groaned, he had slept with his best friend's sister. Lovely. 

He liked Lily and it's not like he regretted it, but this is exactly what he told himself he would never do. Lily slowly opened her eyes and sleepily smiled at him, which he returned she kissed his cheek and snuggled closer to him. Which was always a good sign.

"That was amazing." 

Kaidan nodded "It was." 

"I'll tell my brother we're together dont worry."

"Together?" Kaidan didn't mind but was confused.

"Yeah, I like you and you like me usually that's how it works." 

He kisses her head "Fair enough." 

She smiles "Glad we're in agreement."

"Should we go get breakfast?"

She groans and gets up "Yeah, I want   
french toast and hot chocolate."

Kaidan gets up and starts getting dressed "I need coffee...and bacon."

"Of course you do, you Canadian do you dip it in maple syrup too?"

Kaidan is quiet "Shut up."

She laughs as she gets dressed "I love that I'm right." 

Kaidan rolls his eyes and walks over to grab her beanie, handing it to her. She puts it on as she gets up and they head for the door. As they walk out they run into John and Miranda, making Kaidan turn white as a sheet. 

"Hey John." Lily's casual gretting throwing everyone off.

"Hey sis....uh Kaidan..."

Kaidan smiles awkwardly "Hey..."

"Something I should know?" 

"I'll tell ya later, right now I'm hungry and he promised me breakfast." She takes Kaidan's hand and waves over her shoulder to her brother and Miranda "bye!" 

"I'm a dead man." 

Lily wraps her arm around his, leaning her head on his shoulder. "John looks intimidating but he's a teddy bear, if I tell him how important you are to me he'll back off." 

"If you say so." 

"It'll be fine, I'll protect you."

He chuckles "Well I feel better already." 

"Now then, I need some hot chocolate stat or i might die."

"Well we don't want that now do we."


	15. Car problems

Lily sat in her car that was parked on the side of the road, her forehead resting against the steering wheel.

"This can't be happening." Not only had her car died but it was also now, due to her parking job stuck in snow. luckily she managed to park it somewhere before it gave out on her but it was still less than ideal. 

She dug around for her mittens and slipped them on before getting out of the car, nearly falling due to the snow. She looked at her car not even knowing where to start in the first place, the tires were the only problem area aside from her engine so she decided to start there. She bent down and started digging at the snow with her hands recognizing how dumb she looked but she really didn't care right now.

A good ten minutes too long someone pulls up to help her. She looked over, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. The owner of the car stepped out and for a moment she forgot all about her car. He was gorgeous. Tall, well built, whiskey brown eyes and black hair. 

She stood up and did her best to straighten herself out "So you're either here to help me or kidnap me right?" She joked earning a laugh from him, not most men appreciated her sense of humor so she liked this guy already.

"You're half right, I'm here to help. What exactly is the problem?"

"Well it died and in the process off making sure I didn't get stuck in the middle of the road I drove into the snow and got stuck." 

"And you were attempting to dig it out with your hands?" 

She nods "Listen I know its dumb, but I don't have a shovel. Not even sure I have jumper cables."

He nods "Wait here." He walks back to his car and returns with not one but both of the previously mentioned items.

She sighs in relief "You're an angel." He looked like one too and Lily had to bite her tounge to stop herself from saying that. "But why do you have a shovel?"

"I was helping my dad shovel his driveway, snow is really bad this year so it was a team effort." 

She looks around nodding "Yeah I'm new here so me and my car were not prepared for any of whatever this is." 

He sets the shovel against his car and pops open the hood of his car attaching the cables to it "Oh yeah? Where are you from?"

She mimics his actions "America, I mean we got snow there but Canada is hardcore."

He chuckles and grabs the shovel "Yeah it can get pretty bad here." 

"I can shovel it you know."

He starts digging at the snow "I did offer to help, besides you look like you're freezing." He was right, she was cold. 

"I mean...if you're sure I just feel bad having you do everything."

He rolls his eyes "Please its fine miss..." it occurred to both of them they hadn't introduced themselves.

"I'm Lily." She stuck out her hand for him to shake.

He smiled "Kaidan." He shook her hand, both of them lingering a little longer than a normal handshake.

She sits in her car and sips on her still hot coffee "So, Kaidan do you make a habit of helping damsels in distress?"

He laughs "On occasion, besides I couldn't exactly let you freeze out here."

"So it didn't have anything to do with my good looks?" She teased.

"Who said it didn't?" He looked up at her making her blush.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
They talk about their jobs, family, getting to know each other while Kaidan works on getting her car unstuck.

"You live in Vancouver too?" 

He nods "Yeah, lived in Singapore for a while since I was born there but my dad's family lived out here so when he retired we moved."

"Which did you like better?" 

He thinks about it "Not sure, Singapore was warmer that's for sure but most my family is here so I guess it depends."

"What about you, why did you move?" 

Shes silent, looking down at her coffee cup "Lost my parents in an accident and I just wanted a new start."

"Sorry I shouldn't have asked."

She shakes her head "It's fine, I could've dodged the question if I didn't want to answer."

"True, that is quite the jump though. Do you like it so far?"

She nods "Yeah, everyone here is much nicer. Always thought it was a stereotype but nope."

"Funny." 

She giggles "I'm messing, sort of..."

She had the cutest laugh and it took everything in him not to tell her. He eventually finished up. "Perfect, now let's see if we can get your car started." He headed back to his and starts it up, Lily doing the same to hers silently praying it works. Lucky for her it does.

She leans back in her seat sighing in relief "Thank you god." Kaidan gets out of his car as does she.

"So normally it's better to wait like twenty minutes but I imagine you wanna get out of the cold." He was right she wanted to get home but twenty more minutes with him was not a bad idea. She always knew her thirst would be her downfall.

"No let's play it safe." She smiled and batted her eyelashes a bit hoping he got the hint, which he did.

He nods "We can sit in my car while we wait, the heat should be working."

Lily couldnt have asked for anything better and accepted a little too eagerly "Sounds great." He opens the passenger seat door for her and she got in and he joined her in the driver's seat.

"You got a girlfriend Kaidan?"

He shakes his head as he turns up the heat "No, what about you got a boyfriend?"

"Nah, the only people I see are at work and none of them interest me."

"Same here."

"Could I maybe get your number, just you know maybe I could treat you to coffee sometime for your help." She knew he'd probably say no but she had to go for it, you never know until you ask.

He smiles "Sure, sounds nice."

Her heart skipped a beat "Great." They exchange phone numbers and Shepard's day suddenly went from bad to amazing.

"Text me when you get home, uh just so I know your car didn't die again." He mentally kicked himself, could he be anymore awkward?

She blushed "Will do, hopefully it does getting it fixed would be a pain in the ass." 

The twenty minutes went by too quickly for their liking and they got out to say their goodbyes.

"I can't thank you enough."

He shakes his head as he detaches the cables and closes the hood both their cars "No need, I was happy to help." 

She goes over to him and kisses her cheek "I'll message you about that coffe."

His face turns beat red and he clears his throat "Uh yeah um please do." 

She smirks at the sight of him flustered because of her and they get in their respective cars and head home, both of them not being able to take their minds off each other the entire time.


	16. After the war

Lily lie in her hospital bed looking out the window onto the streets below. She had only woken up from her coma a couple weeks ago and the doctors naturally wanted to keep her a little while longer. She was more bummed about it than anything, she loved Christmas and not being able to celebrate this year was upsetting to say the least. It had only been a year or so since the war ended and by the time she woke up earth and a few mass relays had been fixed. 

She couldn't believe it last time she was here it was nothing but rubble but now, it's like it never happened like it was all a sick coma dream. 

As Shepard was lost in thought her boyfriend, Kaidan walked into the room. She looked over and smiled, the nurses had told her that Kaidan sat by her side every day sometimes even falling asleep at her bedside just in case she woke up. Technically it was against the rules but since the crew of the Normandy were at the forefront of all of this it granted him a few privileges. He was there when she woke up, he could hardly believe it. It had been what he was praying for since he got news she was alive. 

He made his way over to her and kissed her head "How are you feeling honey?"

She smiled, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning into his chest. "Good now that you're here." He wrapped his arms around her and kisses the top of her head. 

A nurse walks in forcing them to pull away from each other, very reluctantly.

"Sorry to interrupt, just wanted to see how you were doing. Any pain anywhere at the moment?"

Shepard shakes her head "No, some of my burns are a little itchy but that just means they're healing."

"Well please don't scratch them, it'll make the healing process longer." 

"I know I know."

Kaidan rolls his eyes at Lily "Dont worry ma'am I'll keep an eye on her." 

The nurse smiles "Thank you major, now I'll leave you to it." She turns and leaves the room shutting the door behind her.

Lily reaches for her scrunchie sitting on her bedside table and does her best to put it up in a bun. Lifting her arms up above a certain height was hard and a bit painful so Kaidan took over. 

"Let me get for you." She let him take over and sat there as he put her hair up. He was very gentle with her knowing how tender headed she was and not wanting to cause her further pain. 

She shook her head side to side to see if it came loose but it stayed perfectly in place "Thanks babe." She scooted over a little and he got in the bed next to her wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

"You looked lost in thought when I walked in, you okay?" 

She nods "Yeah, just wish I wasn't stuck here."

"I know honey, but you'll be out before you know it." 

She rests her head against his shoulder "I was remembering our Christmas date four years ago."

He nods a faint smile on his lips "You were stunning."

"I remember you freaked out cause I started crying, thought I had an allergic reaction to the flowers." 

He laughs "I was hoping you forgot." 

She kisses his cheek "It was sweet."

"We'll have many more Christmases like that as soon as you're out."

"Promise?"

He strokes her cheek "I promise." They could finally make promises like that, they could never promise each other anything. Their work was too dangerous, but now that the war was over there were no more empty promises between them.

Lily yawns "I'm gonna take a nap."

He kisses her head "Go ahead, I'll be here when you wake up."  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
Lily eventually fell asleep in Kaidan's arms, and he snuck out. Lucky for him she was a heavy sleeper so he wasn't too concerned about waking her up.

An hour or so later she wakes up and sees Christmas lights strung up in her room and a small Christmas tree on her bedside table. She looks around "Kaidan?"

As if almost on cue he steps into the room, she pouts "I thought you'd be here when I woke up." 

He goes over to her "Sorry honey." 

"Did you do all this?" 

He nods "I did, I knew you were bummed about Christmas and since you can't leave I figured we could celebrate here."

She smiled tears welling up "Thank you." 

He kisses her, pulling away a little too quickly for her liking "I have something for you." 

He takes out a ring "When you're out of here, let's get married."

She starts crying and nods, Kaidan slips the ring on her finger and kisses her again a bit longer this time, he pulls away and rests his forehead against hers "I love you Lily."

"I love you too Kaidan."


End file.
